By all appearances, it looks like Mama June Shannon is fixing her whole life, piece by piece, starting with her teeth.
Now comes what may be the hardest part: convincing her family to trust her again after she shattered that trust again and again.
Dr. Ish Major spoke to The Sun about how the family is trying to reconnect with June without doing too much, too quickly, and getting burned.
He of course helped in the family’s failed intervention after June’s arrest.
He reveals that, slowly but surely, the entire family and June are working on “rebuilding trust.”
June, however, still remains in Florida, while her family lives in Georgia.
Dr. Ish also explains why they are taking these careful steps instead of immediately welcoming June back with open arms.
“Family gets burnt out,” he reasons.
“‘We tried and you never got it right,'” Dr. Ish notes that they may feel.
“‘We poured resources into you, time, attention and affection into you, and none of that worked,'” he quotes.
“Family is like, ‘Listen we’re done. We’re aggravated,'” Dr. Ish continues.
He explains: “It’s a very tricky way to reintroduce yourself to the family.”
Still, June is “in communication” with her loved ones.
“We love you,” Dr. Ish describes the family’s message to June, “but we’re going to love you from over here.”
“The last thing I did with Pumpkin was help her realize the boundaries,” Dr. Ish recalls.
“If you cannot behave in an appropriate fashion, if you cannot make decisions better for yourself and us,” he begins.
Dr. Ish continues his statement: “Then you don’t get to be part of our lives.”
That means no more crime, no more drugs, and not doing anything to exploit her family for money.
“The only way we’re going to tell that is time,” Dr. Ish says of Pumpkin evaluating her mother’s state of mind.
He explains: “This is June earning her spot back into the family.”
Between the pandemic and June’s family’s current understandable abundance of caution, none of their overtures are going over in person.
So, they are communicating via Skype calls … with a twist.
See, the Skype calls are also a type of test for June, because they are scheduled for specific times.
“They are rebuilding trust,” Dr. Ish details.
“This is what you said you are going to do, let’s see if you can do it,” he adds.
Dr. Ish acknowledges that “History says you won’t.”
“If you do,” Dr. Ish says of tuning in to the Skype conversations on time, “then we can take that next step.”
“This is how you work your way back into the family,” he reasons.
“And,” Dr. Ish concluds, “we can trust each other again.”
That will take a lot of work but, as we all know, it will be worth it if June can get her life back together.
Last year, June sold off her belongings, her furniture, and her conspicuously damaged house for well below its market value.
It was all in a bid for quick cash that she could spend on herself and Geno.
They lived out of hotels and casinos, first in Georgia and then in Florida.
As part of her downward spiral, June also sold off belongings of her family, from vehicle ownership to dolls belonging to her grandbaby.
June’s family has faced so many disappointments that it’s hard for them to set themselves up for another potential heartbreak.
But, they are trying it anyway. They want to give June another chance to be in their lives.
If June can really shape up her act, she could end up filming another season of reality television, possibly even this year — pandemic permitting.
If so, June’s money troubles could become a thing of the past. For now, she and Geno are relying upon Cameo and similar videos for cash.